Manual feeding and tripping mecha



June 25, 1935. J. Q. FINFROCK MANUAL FEEDING AND TRIPPING MECHANISM FOR A POWER DRIVEN POSTAL MACHINE John Q. finfmck Gnome/g June 25, 1935. J FINFROCK 2,005,778

MANUAL FEEDING AND TRIPPING MECHANISM FOR-A POWER DRIVEN POSTAL MACHINE Filed Aug. 24, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Q76]??? Q. F'mfrock M @XQ 61am MA;

June 25, 1935. J. Q. FINFROCK MANUAL FEEDING AND TRIPPING MECHANISM FOR A POWER DRIVEN POSTAL MACHINE Filed Aug. 24, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 e752? Qfi 'nfrock Patented June 25, 1935 r 7 UNITED Ts TAiTss MANUAL FEEDING AND TRIPPING MECHA- NISM FOR A' POWER DRIVEN POSTAL -MACHINE I John Q. Finfrock, Westwood, Calif assignor to National Postal Meter Company, Los Angeles, Calif., a corporation of California Application August 24', 1934," Serial No. 741,235

14 Claims. (01. lei-287) f This invention relates to a manual feeding and tripping mechanism for an automatic; power driven postal machine.-

Thefeeding and tripping mechanism of this invention may be advantageously adapted to the postal machine illustrated and described in my copending application for United States Letters Patent Serial No. 723,094, filed April 30, 1934. l The machineof mycopending application is especially adapted for use in the handling of speed mail, that is mail matter requiring but one, orat most two, postage stamps to be printed thereon. In treating speed mail which requires two stamps, the mail may be run through once after the machine has been set so that the date circle will not. be printed thereon and after the first run this mail matter may be run for a sec- 0nd time but .before starting the second run the machine will be adjusted so as to print the date circle and the tripping mechanism set to insure the printing of the'second stamp next to instead of on top of the first impression. Theioperation of the machine for operating upon single and double run mail matteris fully described in the stated 4 application. This machine is also adapted to print a plurality of postage stamps upon, what is called, Over-weight mail matter and for this use the machine must be differentlyarrangedas,for example, the envelope feeding conveyor truck should be removed, which act will render the .envelope feeding conveyor. inoperative and will release the hand tripping lever for use. The overweightgmail matter will not be placed in the feeding magazine but insteadlwill be manually fed piece by piece to the postage printing meter or means and manually-moved'after the printing of each stamp until the alottecl number of stamps have been printed thereon.

".It is one of. the principal objects ofthis invention to provide the postal machine of my. copending application with a feeding ,and tripping mechanism manually operable for-advancingthe conveyor apredetermined distance with each'actuation thereof and operable at substantially the" completion ofj'the conveyor advancing stroke to trip the driving mechanism into operation for'driving the printing means through one fullprinting cycle. By the use of'the feeding and tripping mechanism, the over-Weight mail matter may be easily and quickly treated in the ma chine. I 1

A- further object is to provide a clutch means which may bemanually operablefor advancing the conveyor a predetermined distance witheach actuation thereof and arranged when in its retracted positionto be disconnectedfrom the conveyor so as not to interfere with the operation thereof while it is being power driven. r

A further object is to provide a limit means for governing the operating strokeof'the clutchand in'this way predetermining the distance the conveyor will be advancedfor each actuation of the clutch and to thereby correctly space each stamp printed upon the mail matter carried by the conveyor; Y

- A further object is to provide a brake :means which will act just asthe clutch means arrives at the end of its conveyor advancing. stroke'to prevent the-conveyor fromover-traveling.

- A further object-isto provide a tripping means which'will be actuated by the manually operable conveyor advancing means when this means approachestheend of its conveyor advancing stroke for placing thedriving mechanism of the machine in driving engagement with the printing means.

A further. object is to providea control means operable for rendering the manually operable tripping mechanism inoperative to place the set forth what is now considered to be a preferred embodiment. It should be understood, :however, that this particular embodiment of the invention is chosen principally for the purpose of exemplification and that variations therefrom in details V of construction or arrangement of the parts may, accordingly be effected and yet remain within the spiritand scope of the invention as the same isset forth in theappended-claims. In the drawings: Figure 1 illustrates a top plan view of a postage printing machine of the typedisclosed in my co.-

pendingapplication, in which the'manual feed-.

ing and trippingmeans of this invention-has been incorporated. A portion of the enclosing casing has been broken awayto more clearly illustrate the control mechanism of the machine.

Figure 2 illustrates a righthand side view of i Fig. 1 partially'in sectionto more clearlyshow the tripping mechanismywhich places the printing means invoperation.

Figure 3 illustrates a fragmental sectional view of a portion of the means for rendering the manually .operabletripping means inoperative.

Figure 4 illustratesa sectional viewtaken sub:

stantially in the plane of line-4+4 of Fig. 1.

Figure 5 illustrates a front elevational view of e I Fig. 1 showing the machine adjusted for manually feeding and tripping the machine when treating over-weight mail. Figure, 6 illustrates an enlarged'fragmental sectional-view of the manual feeding and tripping means in its retracted position.

-, it is ejected from the machine.

conveyor means l4.

Figure 7 illustrates a view similar to Fig. 6 but showing the feeding means at the end of its conveyor advancing stroke and having already actuated the tripping and brake means; and

Figure 8 illustrates a sectional view taken substantially in the plane of line 8B- of Fig. 6. I

The manually operablefeeding and tripping means, forming the subject matter of this init is believed that a brief description of the ma chine will aid in acquiring a better understanding of these changes and of the invention.

, As a full and detailed description of the postal machine. maybe found in my, copending application, it is, therefore, deemed needless to re-v peat thatdescription herein other than to briefly point out the principal elements of the machine and to describe in detail those elements and parts which directly relate to or are affected by the incorporation of the invention therein.

The postal machine as illustrated in Figures 1 to inclusive may includea power plant ID to which a postage printing meter or means I I may be detachably mounted. Mail matter I2 may be placed in a hopper or magazine l3 from which it will be withdrawn one piece at a time by the The mail matter carried by the conveyor may be first passedover an en-' velope flap opening and moistening device l5 and then delivered to the postage printing means and after the stamp has been printed thereon At this time, it might be well to point out that the moistening device has beensomewhat changed from its form as. shown in my copending application to that of .my copending application Serial No. 735,578, filed July 17, 1934, entitled Envelope flap opening and moistening device.

The .power plant is provided with a driving mechanism iii-having an electric motor (not shown) for its'prime mover and normally connected to the conveyor by a clutch means I! and connectible with the printing means through a one cycle clutch I8 whereby when the printer clutch is tripped into operation it will act to drive the printer through one full printing cycle and then automatically disengage to stop the printer. The one cycle clutch is provided with a cam I9 which acts through the cam lever 20 during its initial rotation to actuate the conveyor clutch controlmeans 2lto disconnect the driving mechanism from the conveyor and, to reestablish this driving connection when the cam arrives at the end of its operating cycle.- Thus,

while the printer is in driving connection with the driving mechanism, the conveyor is automatically disconnected therefrom.

In Figures 1 and 4 the machine is shown in 7 condition to handle speed mail, while in Figure 5 it is shown as arranged to handle over-weight mail. The change necessary to adjust the machine to handle. over-weight mail is made very easily and simply by removing the conveyor truck 22 (Figs. 1 and 4) and by rendering the envelope tripping lever 23 inoperative by depressing this lever below the line of travel of the envelopes carried by the conveyor by means of the friction lever 24. It is this tripping lever which is engaged by each envelope as it moves is again placed into operation to eject the treated envelope and advance the next succeeding one into printing position. As the over-weight mail matter is placed in printing position byhand, it is necessary to remove the conveyor truck to make hand feeding of the mail matter easier and quicker and to maintain the tripping lever depressed or otherwise inoperative so that each piece of mail matter placed in printing position will not engage and swing this lever to trip the printer driving clutch into operation .and'thus prematurely bring about the printing operation. It has been found to be of considerable advantage to retain that portion of the truck which lies directly in front of the printer as it acts to hold the mail matter in printing position and also, of possibly even more importance, weights the piece of mail matter under treatment down onto the conveyor and thus insures an accurate advance-- ment of the envelope each time the conveyor is advanced by means later to be described. Thus, the truck of my first mentioned application has been changed; which change includes dividing the truck into two separate elements. The/first or removable truck 25 is shown in position'on the machine in Figures 1 and 4 and would beso mounted when the machine is set to handle speed mail but for over-weight mail it should be removed. To' remove truck 25 it is necessary to lift only the spring weighted handle 26, which frees thetruck for removal. It will be understood that when handle 26 is raised, through suitable lock ing means 21 .(Figure 4), it will be retained in its raised position and due to its interconnection with the conveyor clutch control meanswill act to hold the conveyor clutch disconnected from the driving mechanism in the manner fully set forth in my first mentioned application. Thus, it will be appreciated that aslong as truck is removed from the machine, the conveyor will be maintained disconnected from the driving mechanism.

The rear portion 28 of the truck is now'pivotally mounted upon a suitable spindle 29 projecting from the outer end of bracket 30, which may be suitably fastened upon the front wall of the power plant. The rear truck 28 may be provided with three rubber tired wheels 3|, all in line,

. and arranged to ride upon the upper surface of the conveyor belt '32. The rear end of truck 28 may be extended to form a handle 33 by which v it may be swung around its spindle 29. and there-' by lifted sufliciently for the insertionof mail matter into printing position, whereupon the truck may be released to hold the piece of mail in position and onto the conveyor belt. r

As each piece of the over-weight mail matter will require a plurality of stamps printed-thereoperatively associated with the conveyor beltpul-v ley 34 '(Figs, 5, 6 7 and 8), anjdlmay'include providing this pulley with 'a ratchet wheel 35 Se:

curely fastened theretoasby rivet means 36. An oscillatory plate 31 maybe journaledupon the annular flange 38 of the conveyor'beltpu'lley journal pin 39, which maybe fastened to the Itxis Sufficient say that the turning motion imparted .to this shaft during the swinging acinner face of the power plant outer wall 40 as by the shouldered machine screw 4| '(Thisoscillatory plate may be .operativelyconnectible with the ratchet wheel by providing the plate with a pair of diametricallybpposed pawls 4'; and the finger of each of these'pawls may be" yieldingly urged into engagement with the' teeth' of the ratchet wheel by spring means 4,3. A hand. piece 44 of convenient shape mayjbe journaledf upon the shank of screw 4| andoperatively con nected to the oscillatory plate by mean s. of 'a horizontally projecting pin 45"which' extends through an arcuate slot 46 formedinlwall :40 and through a suitable bore formed'in theplate 'I'he arcuate slot 46 acts asap limit means for limiting the oscillatory motion which may be im-' ratchet wheel. Pins 49"may be fastened to and project horizontally from thefrear face of the power plant wall 40. The advantage derived from'lifti'ng the pawls clear of the ratchet wheels is obtained principally whenthe conveyor is being power driven whereby the ratchet wheel may rotate freely without causing the pawls to ride in and, out of its' nany teeth vduringthis rotation' and thus eliminating not only'the disturbing noise which would be caused thereby but also unnecessary wear tothese parts. 'The pawls will be released from their respective retracting 'pins during the initial rotation of the 'oscillatoryiplate' whereupon the finger of each pawl will engage one of theratchet teeth" which are so related thereto asto form a driving en agement therewithwhereby the ratchet wheel will be turned andthus, through theassociated pulley,"the"con= veyor will be advanced until pin 45 willhave reached the other end of the limit slot 46; Upon completion of the advancing stroke of thejconveyor, the parts willbe returned to their retracted position underthe influenceof the torsional spring 41. I

Manually operable tripping mechanism for the printing means i It is desirable to arrange the conveyor advancing means whereby at substantially the end of the conveyor advancing stroke .this means .willact to place the printing means in driving connection with the power plant driving ;mechanism. For this purpose the oscillatory plate 31 may have a portion thereof cut away, as at 50;

which portion may have a cam surface 5| arranged to engage and swing the free. end of the tripping arm 52, from its .inactive-.:position as inFigure 7. i The tripping arm'is fastened at its opposite end to shaft :53. which corresponds to shaftZZB. .of my first mentioned application and," as the actionof this shaft in'trippingtheprinterv clutch 'into'xactionto establish a driving connection. between the power plant driving"mech-' in, .a repetition of thisdescr-iptionxis unnecessary.

tionjof. the tripping arm. 52 fromits positionas shown :in Figure (Site that :of .Figure "I will act through a suitable mechanismto' place the.

* Conveyor brake In orde'rto prevent the conveyor from overtrav'eling shouldthehand piece 44 be sharply turned, a brake means is provided which will be brought into action at substantially the end ofthe conveyor advancing stroke. In this embodiment, the conveyor brake means may be associated with the tripping arm 52, however, it may shown inEig-ure'fi toiits active-position as shown' be differently arranged if desired. In Figures 6, '7 and 8, the brake shoe 54 may be appropriately fastened .to the offset bracket 55 of the tripping arm/as by rivet means 56. The brake shoe will directly underlie the lower run of the conveyor belt'32 and, as it is formed of metal having considerable resiliency, it will be brought into braking engagement with the conveyor belt when the trip arm has been swung to its active position, as is clearly shownin Figure '7, without interfering with the action of the tripping lever or the con? veyor advancing means. The brake will be automatically returnedto its inactive position upon the return of the tripping arm, as may be observed from Figure 6. This brake mechanism insures that the conveyor will not overtravel even though. the hand piece be turned relatively quickly and thus the stamps printed upon a p'ece of mail matter will all be equallyspaced.

Locking rneans for the manual y operable tripping means The-samecontrol means 51 may be utilized in this machine asin my first mentioned application for locking the hand tripping means against action during the time the machine is set for treating speed mail, for it would be inadvisable to leave the hand tripping means free to throw the printer into-action at any time while the machine a is set for automaticfoperationas the printer 'might be placed into operation by its action before the oonveyorwould have had suflicient time to carry the pieoejfof mail'matter into printing position,--thus wasting thevaIue of the stamp; or at best causing-the stamp tobe inaccurately placed thereon; a a

Thisv control means, like in my stated application, is operatively associated with the spring weighted handle 26 whereby it will be automatically actuated to release the hand tripping means when this lever is locked'in its raised position for the removal of the forward portionof the conveyoritruck and also while in this position the handle will act to] automatically disconnect the conveyor driving clutch]: When handle 26 is lowered to position the forward truck inzplaceon the conveyor, it will actuate the control-means to lock the handtrippin'g; mechanism and to release the conveyor clutch. In this way themachine is safe guarded againsthand tripping the printer into use when the machine is set for acting upon speed mail and likewise, due .to re-' tracting the tripping lever 23 by means of the friction lever, the printer cannot be placedinto operation by means other than'the hand .trip-.

ping mechanism when the machine is adjusted to treat over-weight mail matter.

' Operation As the features of this invention are brought in to play onlywhen the machine is adjusted to handle overweight mail, ther operation of the the rear truck 28 by means of handle 33and place the first piece of over-weight mail matter in the machine so that the forward edge thereof will be. positioned adjacent the inner edge ofstamp 58 engraved upon the frontface of the meter. Next, the date circle printing die will be shifted to its ofi position by shifting the date circle control knob 59 opposite the word Off engraved upon the printer casing, ifa number of stamps are to be printed before requiring the printing of the date circle. If, for example, this particular piece of mail matter required six cents worth of postage, "as penciled thereon, it would require three two; cent stamps to be printed thereon as the denominationof postageywhich may be printed by the meter illustrated is for two cents only. We

' stamp, whereupon the operative by turning the by means of the hand piece, again advance-the are not avaliable; v

The machine is now ready to print the first hand piece '44 will actuate the conveyor to ad-,

Vancev theenvelope into printing position and as it reaches this position the printing means will be connected with the driving mechanism, further movement of the envelope will be stopped, dur

ing the printing operation. With the completion of the first printing operation, the operative may,

envelope-and when it has been advanced apredetermined distance, the printer will again be placed into operation to'print the second stamp. Before printing the'third stamp, the operative will shift the date circle knob 59 until it isopposite the word On and will then actuate the hand piece for the third time, againadvancing the envelope a predetermined distance before placing the printer into action, and during this printing cycle the machine will print the date circle along with the stamp. Theenvelope will now have three 2 cent stamps printed :thereon, as well ,as one impression of the date circle, and may'bere-l moved from the machine and the next envelope placed therein for treatment.

It will be understood that any number of stamps may be printed upon the. mail matter for which there is room and, that after the piece of mail matter has been placed in the machine, it w'illnot require further attention asit will be nicely held, onto the conveyor by the rear truck.

and will be accuratelyadvanced during the actuation of the hand piece. I I

' A machine incorporating the'features offlthis invention will handle over-weight 'mailma'tter easily, quickly and accurately.

While I haveillustrated the preferred form of my invention, it is to be understood that the foregoing description is for illustrative purposes only' and I do notdesire. to be limited to any of the deappendedcla'ims.

vlclaimzf 51; v j Y H .1. In a postage printing machine, postage .tails shown or describ'ed,"except as defined in the.

printing means, driving'means operable for driving the printingmeans through a single operating cycleeach time said driving means is placed into operation, conveyor frne'ans, for advancing I mail matter through the printing means,'means for manually advancing the conveyor, andmeans for placing the, printer drivingmeans into operation'with each actuation" of theconveyor actuate ingmeanse r i 2. In a postal printing machine, postage print-'- ing means, driving means operable f or driving the means forplacing the printer driving means into, operation witheach actuation of the: conveyor actuating means.

l 3. In a postage printing machine,"postage printing means, driving. means operable for drivmatter through the printing, means, conveyor actuating means manually operable for advancing the conveyor, means for placing the printer driving means into operation with each actuation of the conveyor actuating means, and brake means operable by the conveyor actuating means as it approaches the end of it's "conveyor advancing stroke to prevent the conveyor from over-travels ing.

engage the teeth of the ratchet wheel for turning the pulley and thereby advancing theconveyor,

manually operable means for oscillating the plate,

means for limiting the oscillatory motion of the plate for predetermining the amount of travel of the conveyor for each actuation of the plate,

and means operatively associated with the oscil-. latory place for placing. the printerdriving means into operation each time the plate approaches the 4. Inv a postagepprinting 'machine, postage printing 'mans, driving means operable for drivconveyor advancing end of its oscillatory stroke. 1

j 5. In a postage printing machine conveyor, a pair of spaced pulleys, a conveyor belt'for the pulleys, a ratchet wheel carried by one of the pulleys, an oscillatory plate operatively' mounted adjacent the ratchet wheel, pawl means carried by the plate'andarranged to engage the teeth of the ratchet wheel for turning'the. pulley to therebyadvance thhe conveyor belt, manually operable means foroscillating theplate, and meansfor limiting the oscillatory motion of the plate for predetermining the amount of travel through which the conveyor belt will be advanced for each actuation of the plate. I

6. In a postage printing machine conveyor, a pair of spaced pulleys, a conveyor belt for the pulleys, aratchet wheel carried by one of the pulleys, an oscillatory plate for the ratchet wheel, pawl means carried by the plate and arranged to engage the teeth of the ratchet wheel for turning the ratchet Wheel pulley to thereby advance the conveyor belt, manually operable means for oscillating the plate, means for limiting the os-' cillatory motion of the plate for predetermining the amount of travel through which the conveyor belt will be advanced for each actuation of the plate, and means operable by the plate as it reaches the end of its active stroke for causing the postage printing means to operate through one cycle of operation.

7. In a postage printing machine conveyor, a pair of spaced pulleys, aconveyor belt for the pulleys, a ratchet wheel carried by one of the pulleys, an oscillatory plate operatively mounted adjacent the ratchet wheel, a pawl means carried by the plate and arranged to engage the teeth of the ratchet wheel for turning the ratchet wheel pulley to thereby advance the conveyor belt, manually operable means for oscillating the plate, means for limiting the oscillatory motion of the plate for predetermining the amount of travel through which the conveyor belt will be advanced for each actuation of the plate, and spring means operable for returning the oscillatory plate to its starting position after each actuation thereof.

8. In a postage printing machine conveyor, a pair of spaced pulleys, a conveyor belt for the pulleys, a ratchet wheel carried by one of the pu1- leys, an oscillatory plate for the ratchet wheel, pawl means carried by the plate and arrangedto engage the teeth of the ratchet wheel for turning the ratchet wheel pulley to thereby advance the conveyor belt, manually operable means for oscillating the plate, means for limiting the oscillatory motion of the plate for predetermining the amount of travel through which the conveyor belt will be advanced for each actuation of the plate, and a brake means operable by the plate as it reaches the end of its active stroke for stopping the conveyor belt.

9. In a postage printing machine conveyor, a pair of spaced pulleys, a conveyor belt for the pulleys, a ratchet wheel carried by one of the pulleys, an oscillatory plate for the ratchet wheel, pawl means carried by the plate and arranged to engage'the teeth of the ratchet wheel for turning the ratchet Wheel pulley to thereby advance the conveyor belt, manually operable means for oscillating the plate, means for limiting the oscillatory motion of the plate for predetermining the amount of travel through which the conveyor belt will be advanced for each actuation of the plate, and means for automatically disengaging the pawl means from the'ratchet wheelwhen the oscillatory plate is located at its starting position.

10. In a postage printing machine conveyor, a pair of spaced pulleys, a conveyor belt for the pulleys, a ratchet wheel carried by one of the pulleys, an oscillatory plate for the ratchet wheel, pawl means carried by the plate and arranged to engage the teeth of said ratchet wheel for turning the ratchet wheel pulley to thereby advance the conveyor belt, manually operable means for oscillating the plate, means for limiting the oscillatory motion of the plate for predetermining the amount of travel through which the conveyor belt will be advanced for each actuation'ofv the plate, spring means operable forreturning the oscillatory plate to its starting position after each actuation thereof, and means for automatie cally disengaging the pawl means from the ratchet wheel when the oscillatory plate is returned to its starting position.

11. In a postage printing machine, postage printing means, conveyor means for advancing mail matter through the printing means, a driving mechanism operatively connectible with either the conveyor or printer but not with both at the same time, manually operable conveyor advancing means, means for connecting the driving mechanism to the printer with each actuation of the manually operable conveyor advancing means, and a control means operable when actuated to one position for rendering inopera tive the means for connecting the driving mechanism to the printer and for rendering the driving mechanism connectible to the conveyor means and operable when actuated to a second position for rendering operable the means for connecting the driving mechanism to the printer and for dis veyor a predetermined distance with each actuation thereof, said manually operable conveyor advancing means being disconnectible from the conveyor while the conveyor is being operated by the driving mechanism, and means for connecting the driving mechanism to the printer each time the manually operable conveyor advancing means is actuated to advance-the conveyor.

13. In a postage printing machine, postage printing means, conveyor means for advancing mail matter through the printing means, a driving mechanism operatively connectible to either the conveyor or printer, manually operable conveyor advancing means for advancing the conveyor a predetermined distance with each actuation thereof, said manually operable conveyor advancing means being disconnectible from the conveyor while the conveyor is being operated by the driving mechanism, means for connecting the driving mechanism to theprinter each time the manually operable conveyor advancing means is actuated to advance the conveyor, and means operable for rendering the last named means inoperative while the conveyor means is connectible to the driving mechanism.

14. In a postage printing machine, postage printing means, conveyor means for advancing mail matter through the printing means, a driving mechanism operatively connectible to either the conveyor or printer, manually operable conveyor advancing means, means for connecting I the driving mechanism to the printer each time the manually operable conveyor advancing means isactuated, and means operable for rendering the last named means inoperative while the conveyor is connectible to the driving mechanism.

1 JOHN Q. FINFROCK 

